Puzzle Master's Academy
by RedReadersHood
Summary: Krista is the new girl in school at Puzzle Master's High School, and it's unusual.Everyone is just weird. Especially the other students in her class, who all seem to be hiding something. Will she ever be able to survive in this crazy mess of a school?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

******Hello all,**

**this is my first ****story **_ever_**!**

**Yay!**

**This fanfic is based off of the story and anime Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Not my fav. anime ever, but my first, so it's also going 2 be my first fanfic!**

**The girl, Krista, is NOT in the original story line, so I hope you like her!**

**This story is a little...unique...(to put it nicely) **

**so I'm not sure how readers will receive it...whatever. **

**Enjoy!**

**~Red****ReadersHood

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New schools suck, that's all there is to it. After all, who wants to go to a new school at the beginning of the second semester, after all the students have already settled into their own little groups and the inner-clique drama hadn't quite started yet. The fact that this was Puzzle Masters High School- a SUPER prestigious and EXTREMELY strict school for the gifted- just confirmed that this was the absolute _worst day of my life!_

My dad was transferred over Christmas break, he was awarded some big promotion type thing, which meant we had to move. In elementary school, moving was fun. I loved the concept of new scenery, new friends, and a new life. Then my father remained stationary for five years, long enough for me to graduate elementary, move in and out of middle school, and start high school. Long enough for me to make best friends and even go on my first date with my first boyfriend. My dad took all that away, to send me to some rich-kid school for nerds. I was barely average in my _regular _classes back home, I have no idea how he expected me to pass in NERD SCHOOL.

The long-legged, brunette administrator who's name I couldn't remember walked me right up to the door of my classroom. I shuffled behind her, not really listening to her description of how wonderful the school was, but watching her feet. She was wearing bright orange high-heels that rose higher than my ankle. I was truly curious to how she managed to walk around in those, and what about stairs? "Okay, Kristy-"

"Krista." I corrected quickly, most people make that mistake. It's not that Krista is an _uncommon _name, but people always think it's Kristy for some reason. The lady shook her brunette hair so that it waterfalled over her shoulders, as if to say_ what-ever _and continued talking.

"-this is going to be your new classroom." She motioned to the pale blue door we now stood in front of. The door was adorned with light green trim and boasted the numbers 639 in shinny gold paint. At least this school was more colorful than my last one. All the walls there had been puke-yellow with the occasional rarity of snot-green and the floors never varied from dull, worn-down brown.

"I'm sure the students in this class are very nice, so ask _them_ if you need anything, m'kay?" She emphasized her words by popping her huge lips, which practically glowed from the bright pink lipstick she was wearing. She proceeded to shuffle through some papers that resided in a yellow manila folder, "here's your class order," She handed me a sheet of paper with a list of classes in black ink, "and this is your gym uniform slip, turn it into your teacher tomorrow with sizes and stuff. Oh, yeah, his name is Mr. Grum- or something like that- just ask him for any help in class or something." I was seriously questioning this lady's right to be an administrator here- or anywhere. "Alright, any questions, Kristy?"

I sighed, deciding I might just start going by Kristy so I could stop correcting her, "Just two. Are those shoes regulation? And do they come in size five?" The brunette huffed and stuck out her bright pink lips, she spun on her orange heel and clacked away. The way she walked implied that she was annoyed, as if I'd been a total waste of her time. I decided the feeling was mutual.

Turning back to the door I braced myself. When was the last time I'd been the new girl? Sixth grade? That was about right. In the first week I'd managed to trip down the main stairs stairs- landing on the tall guy, dump my lunch all over the hot guy, and hit a volleyball into the head of the nice guy. This was going to be fun.

The door slammed open when I entered the classroom, causing all eyes to fall on me. I was suddenly self-conscious of my strait, dull brown hair and too big, hand-me-down sweater. The holes in the knees of my jeans seemed to burn into my skin and I suddenly recalled my crush calling me ugly in third grade. My face burned hot as I stumbled into the room, tripping over a step at the door I hadn't seen before and bumping into one of the desks. I quickly seated myself in the first open seat I could find and forced my eyes to focus on my schedule, in hopes I wouldn't screw that up too.

Before class even started, I was approached by the usual groups: the nerds, the preps, the jocks. All seeing if I would fit into their cliques. I don't think I passed any of the first-impression tests. I was an average 'b' student, I wasn't very gorgeous and didn't wear designer clothes, and I swear I'm sports impaired.

I glanced at the clock as I pretended to listen to a girl who claimed to be "class president"- whatever that was- to see that first period didn't start for another twenty minutes. The girl had introduced herself as Sydney-something-or-another and kept going on about regulation and rules. "So, keep your skirt at your knees and stay with your studies and I'm sure you'll be fine." She finally seemed to finish.

"Uh, thanks." I glanced at the clock again. "Well, see you later." Although she recognized a dismissal, Sydney-something-or-another was clearly unhappy that I hadn't jumped for joy at the thought of studying. She sighed and went back over to a group of kids who all seemed to have glasses and books thicker than the dictionary.

It was then that another group of people walked in the class, rather late for such a school. They were all laughing about something and being quite open about it. I tossed a glance around the class, most the students were in small groups, studying, reading, or quietly talking, and only a few annoyed ones glanced up at the loud group. I turned in my seat so that I could look at this group better.

There was about ten of them, all in uniform. The obvious one was the girl, just one. She had short, chocolate brown hair and strong bangs. She was laughing with the others and _seemed _girl-y enough, but she was the ONLY girl out of the ten of them.

She was also the first one to notice me. Two of the guys, one with fluffed up blond hair and the other with pointed brown, were arm wrestling in the air, both with facial expressions that imitated constipation. The rest of the guys were laughing, some of them even tried to help one side or the other. A short boy tried breaking them up with no success. The girl just rolled her eyes, which means she was looking strait at me. She nudged one of the guys and nodded in my direction, soon all of them had seen me and decided as a whole that none of them knew me.

The shortest of the group was the first to address me. He'd made his way across the classroom with the rest following behind like ducklings. When he reached my desk he extended a small, round hand and a huge, warm smile. "Hello, I'm Yugi...are you new here?" I took the hand shake as a chance to examine him. He was _very_ short, shorter than even me. Though his hair was so high off his head it probably made up for the difference. At a closer examination I could see that his hair, which at first gave off a black look, was actually quite colorful- with red and yellow streaks.

"Yeah, I'm Krista. Nice to meet you, Yugi." As I introduced myself the tall guy with the puffy hair shoved Yugi out of the way, so I received an eyeful of blond and grins.

"Hey there! I'mma called Joey, Joey Wheeler!" The blond yelled, not even offering his hand. He had an odd accent that I couldn't quite place and that he'd clearly thrown slang onto. It didn't look like his uniform was even a uniform, it was so messed up and rugged.

"Uh...hi, Joey..." I tried before another guy shoved his way in. This one was the same one who'd been arm wrestling with Joey before, the one with brown hair pulled to a point above his forehead. He was only slightly less rugged than Joey and had only slightly less of a smile plastered to his face.

"Hi, I'm Tristan Honda!" He propped his elbow on my desk and gave me the "cool guy look" that makes "cool guys" look really stupid.

"Nice to me-" This time I wasn't surprised when Tristan was bowled over and a new guy replaced him. This time I was sure his hair wasn't allowed in school. It was black and longer than mine. He'd tied it in a pony-tail with a thick red-with-black-diamonds headband holding up the many loose strains. He even had a die hanging from his left ear and some sort of strange make-up underneath his left eye.

"Duke Devlin, Ma'am." He said in a deep, rough voice. He cast a smile my way, flicking his nose with his thumb.

"What kind of name is Duke?" I tried asking before Joey and Tristan tried to strangle him. Too late.

I glance at the girl, who had her head in her hand, "Hi, I'm Krista." I said again, causing her to glance up at me. She had a heart-shaped face and huge blue eyes. She notice I was talking to her and tossed me a gentle smile,

"I'm Téa Gardner." She extended her hand gently and I shook it. She glanced at the three boys currently trying to kill each other and sighed. I noticed that Yugi was desperately trying to _stop_ the fighting, with no success.

"Are they _always _like this?" I asked tiredly. I wasn't sure if I would be able to stand this class, the students were so..._freaky_.

Téa sighed and hung her head, "always." She glanced between me and them then back, "I promise, they get better once you know them." I looked at her skeptically and she shrugged, "Hey, they're the nice ones." She explained.

I didn't see any sarcasm or joke in her face or hear it in her voice, but still... "The _nice _ones? Are we looking at the same guys?" I asked with a small smile.

She tried to return it, but her eyes wandered to the other half of the group. "Um, Ryou, Malik, come introduce yourself." I followed her gaze as two guys came over to the desk.

"Hello, I'm Ryou, nice to meet you!" The shorter one said, I was surprised to hear he had a British accent. He also had slightly obnoxious hair, it was completely white and fell far onto his back. His face supported a kind smile and eyes.

"Hello, Ryou." I replied with what I hoped was an equally kind smile. It seemed to pass because the next guy leaned forward. This one had extremely tan skin and pale hair. Although he wore the uniform he looked out of place with a large golden necklace. This group was sure into interesting accessories.

"Hi, Krista, I'm Malik." He too offered his hand which I shook politely. These two seemed nice enough, it made me wonder what Téa had meant by the _nice _ones. Sure, they all acted perfectly kind and almost gentlemanly, but I wouldn't go as far to say any of them _weren't _nice.

"Alright, well, that's everyone...ish." Téa said. "It was nice meeting you." She tried to brush me off, but I wouldn't allow it. After all, I'd only met seven, and I had clearly counted ten when they'd walked in.

"Wait! I haven't met-" I stopped short when I saw who it was exactly who I hadn't met. Three guys, of course. One was slightly shorter than the other two but all three had one extremely striking resemblance- the glares. All of them were scrawling like they wished to be anywhere else but in school.

That wasn't was stopped me though. I was sure I'd met them before, but- no. They were defiantly different people. The short one looked a lot like Yugi, but slightly taller and more...dark. The one with white hair had an evil aura about him that screamed mean, nothing like Ryou. Then there was a dark-skinned one who looked freakishly like Malik, but who seemed nothing but evil.

"Hello, my name is Yami." Yugi's double decided to break the silence and my staring. His voice was about three octaves lower than Yugi's but had a similar ring to it. He held out his hand, which I impolitely forgot to shake.

"-But, Yugi! And now you! But-" I gasped for air and stared between the two boys. The _looked _like the same person, same hair and clothes and everything. Then I noticed the eyes. Yugi's were bigger, kinder. Yami's were...almost evil. If it weren't for the smile splashed across his face I would've believed he was. I shook my head and grabbed his hand, surprising him a little, "Hello, I'm Krista. Are you and Yugi twins or something?"

They all laughed at this, apparently it was funny. "No, we're not." He said in his super low voice, "we just look similar is all."

I frowned at him, "No, I don't think so." I replied. "You look more than _similar,_ and I really don't think that's all." He said nothing, revealing nothing, but I noticed Yugi gulp ever so slightly. I sighed and turned to the other-Ryou (he looked slightly less evil than the other-Malik) "Who are you?"

"No one to be trifled with, and no one who wants to know you." He hissed at me in a raspy British accent. I bit my lip, this guy was scarier than I'd though.

"I see." I said simply, dropping my hand, "nice to meet you too, whoever you are." I turned to the other-Malik and started to extend my hand, but it was grabbed by Malik- the real Malik.

"This is Merik." He said with an uneasy smile, "and touching him is... dangerous." I blinked at him, turned to Merik and blinked again, then sat down.

"I give up!" I threw my hands in the air, most of them jumped (Merik and evilRyou remained unphased.) "I don't understand you- _any _of you! It's like you're all crazy or something!"

EvilRyou actually chuckled at this, an evil-beyond-compare sort of chuckle. "Maybe we are?" He cackled. The sound sent chills down my spine and the hairs on my arms stood up. Ryou elbowed him and muttered something that sounded a lot like "stop that" but I couldn't be sure.

"Well... I suppose it was nice meeting all of you." I said, not taking my eyes off of evilRyou. He tossed me an evil grin, but said nothing. Yugi distracted my attention from the boy.

"You too, Krista. I hope you like it here at Puzzle Masters High!" He laughed. I gave him an uneasy smile, unsure of how to respond to this kid, when he was clearly used to the evil-looking guys (particularly the one who had similar looks as him) and was still able to smile and laugh.

"Thanks, Yugi." I tried, it seemed to work, he certainly seemed pleased.

The bell rang and the ten of them exchanged shocked glances, then hurried to their seats (all which seemed to be near each other.) A man walked in, who I assumed to be the teacher.

He wasn't super tall or handsome. Or young. His gray hair was retreating far past his forehead and wrinkles lined his face around his large nose and friendly eyes. A pair of thin-rimmed glasses rested on the fat bridge of his nose. He scanned the class, blinking every four seconds (you could set your watch to it. One. Two three. Four. Blink. One. Two. Three. Four. Blink.) Then his eyes rested on me. "You must be the new student, Kristy, right?"

I sighed. Would my torture never end? "Krista." I corrected simply.

He nodded with a smile, "Good luck!" he cheered. I was afraid- good luck with_** what?**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2!**

**Okay, so I'm an eager new author and**

**rushed into the next chapter w/out waiting for many reviews...**

**bummer.**

**And to my first and (as far as I know) only fan:**

**Mairorah- thank you.

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Lunch. I'd made it through half my first day with only mild tripping, falling, slipping, breaking, tumbling, wounding, etc. I was feeling great. This school had exactly two-hundred-twenty-four students, which was a much smaller number than my last school (which had five-hundred-something in the freshman class alone) and this was still not the smallest school I've ever enrolled in.

This school, however, was unusual. Our "homeroom" was actually the classroom for most classes; English, math, history, and geography were all held in that room, but classes such as science, music, physical ed, and tech all had special rooms located elsewhere in the building. There was a different teacher for each subject, but there was only one teacher per subject- they just rotated through the classrooms at different times. Meaning that no two classes were learning the same subject at the same time.

Another thing that struck me as odd about this school was that you went to each class with the same group of about twenty-eight people. That meant you didn't really meet anyone who was not in your class. Even at lunch all the classes seemed to sit at their own tables and not mingle with the other classes. In any other school, I would have related this as "cliques" but each class separated into cliques within themselves, not even bothering to try and sit with similar cliques of other classes.

This was probably because of how class placement worked. There were three classes of each grade. Which class you were placed into depended on how you were enrolled in the school. My class was the scholarship class. Every single student in there was in on a scholarship of some kind: sports and grades being the common ones. One of the other classes was based off of grade level. The students in there placed high enough on tests to enroll but they still had to pay the regular fees. The final class was purely money based. The biggest donations, the biggest names, the biggest egos. I could understand the tables not mingling. Know-it-alls, rich kids, and poor kids were not a good match.

Each class filled about two tables, I noticed, so I started searching for my class's. One of them had seventeen kids crammed on it. I could see why, too. The other table was Yugi, Téa, Joey, and Tristan's table. The freak table. It was obvious I wasn't going to fit on the first one, so I slid next to Ryou. He glanced nervously at me, but didn't protest. Everyone stopped talking almost simultaneously (except Joey and Tristan who were arguing about whether chicken nuggets or chicken strips tasted better) and looked at me. Can you say awkward? Good.

I cleared my throat ever-so-slightly and scanned all their faces, trying to recall names, "Hi, um, do you guys mind if I sit here?" I asked, even though I was already sitting and didn't have much of a choice.

"Sure no problem." Yugi invited me cheerfully. He was snacking on a bag of chips and a hamburger but still didn't have as much food as some of the other guys. He was sitting almost exactly across from me and I noticed how close he and Yami were. It was odd seeing the two of them right next to each other.

"What would you have done if we had said no, I wonder?" evilRyou asked in his raspy British voice. I saw him glaring me down and stared intently at my pudding. What would I have done?

"Probably sat anyway." I admitted quietly, causing a diabolical grin to wash over his face. I swear he took joy out of bullying me.

"Well, at least you're honest." Yami pointed out. His voice was way too deep for any regular high schooler and it made talking to him difficult. Neither him nor evilRyou were eating anything, though Yami did have a soda.

I fidgeted under their gazes and continued to examine my pudding, "'honesty is the most valuable thing we have, so I try to conserve it.'" I muttered.

"Mark Twain." Yami noted, "well said." I felt my face start to glow red. I noticed my pudding was becoming more interesting by the second.

"Humph." evilRyou growled (I realized I still didn't know his name), "_You _speak of _honesty_? _YOU?_" I was shocked to hear flat hatred in his voice. I raised my eyes to meet his to see that he was glaring at...Yami. He wasn't sending an aura of hate _my_ way, but his. Thank goodness.

"Um, sorry to but in here..." I interrupted his hate rant, "but is something wrong?"

He stood up, slamming down on the table with both his hands. "Damn strait somethings wrong!" He growled at me, making me jump ten feet in the air, "_You _are wrong! _You _shouldn't be here! You don't even know where you are!"

His words stung like a slap. I wasn't even sure if he knew how completely right he was. I shouldn't be here. I didn't know where I was, or why. But his words still stung. "I-I see." I whispered to my pudding. "I'll leave."

"Bakura!" Ryou hissed, "What is wrong with you?" his British accent was cute even in an angry whisper.

"So Bakura's your name?" I turned to face the angry boy, who was now glaring at me with all he had. "Nice to meet you!" His face flickered surprise, then ferocity ,

I booked it out of there faster than you can say "Let's duel!"

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******Okay, so this is a sort of short, but necessary chapter,**

******it has a little bit of foreshadowing in it.**

******Subtle foreshadowing, but it's there- I promise.**

******IDK when the next chapter will come out, **

******I'm a horrid procrastinator... **

******~RedReadersHood  
**


	3. Chapter 3

******Author's Note:**

******Here's chapter 3!**

******Sorry it took so long to upload chapter 2**

******...I didn't know how to work the thing, **

******so I just realized it wasn't posted and had to ask**

******my sister for help...**

******Enjoy!

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**

After leaving the lunch table, I'd trashed my meal and hid in the bathroom. I'm not the sort of girl that sits around and cries for hours, I just didn't have anywhere to go, so the toilet it was!

I probably should have thought my actions out a little bit more though, because after lunch I, of course, had classes! Which means classmates! Which means THEM.

I know, I know- it sounds mean. I can't help it though, especially that Bakura! Sheesh, _what _is his glitch? I mean...okay I sort of intruded on their circle, but still! Maybe I will cry.

The bell rang around the time my stomach growled. There was no choice but for me to go to class- on an empty stomach. I shuffled into the classroom and scooted into my seat. Each time the door opened I made sure not to make eye contact with the students, too afraid my eyes would betray my rotten emotions of fear, sorrow, and freaking HUNGER. Man, I needed a cheeseburger.

Finally, after all the students had settled into their seats and shut up, a teacher walked in. It wasn't one of my teachers from earlier in the day, he was _way _more professional looking. Think tall, dark, and handsome but thirty-five years old.

"Today, class, we will go over the-" His eyes, which had been doing the x-ray scan over all the students, rested on my slouched form. "Are you Krista?" He asked me, quite forward.

"No I'm-" He'd said my name right! "Yeah! I am." I grinned at him, he remained expressionless. Kind of creepy, if you ask me (which you didn't) he did nod once though and continued with his lecture.

"Like I was saying we will go over the mental process of the human being." He raised one palm as if to silence talking which hadn't started, "I know you are all thinking that this is impossible. You are correct. We are barely _scraping _the top layer of the complexity we know as the human thought process." I realized I didn't even know what class we were in, I hadn't checked. What class taught brain studies? I did know this teacher was a bit...odd. "We will get into groups of two. Each partner will be asked a series of questions, their answers will be analyzed so we may know how each of you thinks." He scanned the class again. "This is not a one step process and after the questioning I expect each of you to come to know your partner. Yes, that means _after school__work. _What do kids call it now? Hanging out? Yes, hang out with your partner."

I bit my lip (I've recently come to realize what a bad habit of mine this is) and glanced around the room using my peripheral vision. _Hello? I don't freaking know anybody!_ I wanted to yell at this guy, but that would attract unwanted attention. I was pretty sure Sydney-something-or-another, the class president, wouldn't mind being my partner, but I wasn't sure if I didn't mind being _hers_.

"Oh, one more thing." The teacher added (I really need to learn the names of my teachers.) "I have chosen your partners for you." A groan swept over the room. "It wouldn't work if you hung out with the person so much, you are already practically one mind." He winked at us and shuffled through some papers,

"Okay, first we have Suzie and Rob, Charlie and Grace, Yugi and Sydney, Rick and Mike, Rebbecca and Sally, Fred and Beth, Mandy and John, Yami and Tristan, Duke and Téa, Ryou and Marik, Cristen and Alex, Malik and Sammy, Joey and Seto-"

"Hell NO!" Joey stood up and yelled, causing the teacher to look up at him, "NO way am I gonna pair up with that guy!" He shouted pointing at a brunet with cold eyes and an emotionless face.

"I agree with the mongrel, there is no way he and I will be partners." The brunet said in an icy voice that sent chills down my spine. I made a choice right there _not _to make myself familiar with that one.

"Oh, _shut up_ you two." The teacher growled. I like this teacher. "I paired the both of you because of this, you _seem_ to hate each other, but who knows. Maybe you have something in common...maybe." The both of them sent hate waves at the teacher with all their mights. "Finally, Bakura and...Krista."

_Oh crap._ "You have _got _to be kidding." Bakura growled at him, "No way am I going to pair up with that bi-"

The teacher slammed his fist down on the desk hard and loud so it echoed through the classroom silencing all sounds. "Don't even _begin _to start that with me!" He yelled at Bakura, making us all jump, "You _WILL _be in a group with this girl, and you _WILL_ treat her with proper respect!" He glared across the room at each and everyone of us, "That goes for every single one of you. You and your partner will cooperate, or you both will fail." His voice was low and deadly with a ring of demand to it. Nobody dared speak up or against him.

"Now, with that settled, let me _explain _the project before you all go and murder your partners, shall I?" His eyes rested for a brief moment on Bakura then Joey and finally Seto before shifting to me. "It's relatively simple. Over the course of the next week you and your partner will find _after school time _to meet up. Ask a few questions about each other, then ask why. Through certain diagnostic procedures you should be able to identify what your partner thinks of the world and why." He shuffled through some papers and handed a stack to Yugi, who happened to be sitting in the front row. "Pass these out." he muttered, indicating to the papers and the class in one swift flick of his arm. Yugi stood up (though there wasn't much difference, as he isn't a tall fellow) and started handing each person a small packet of papers. "This project goes deeper than you realize, you have to really become acquainted with your partner, get inside their head, think how they think. This project will really help with your people skills, I promise you. Now, with that said, good luck."

Yugi handed me a packet and moved on to the next person. My eyes scanned the words, and I decided I really didn't like this project. Not only was I going to have to meet up with Bakura, I was going to have to sacrifice weekends and afternoons to 'become acquainted with' him.

I sighed and found myself trudging over to his desk, this was NOT going to go over well, I could feel it in the air. "Hey, Bakura." I muttered to him.

He sent a strong glare my way, "I am not happy about this." He hissed.

I lifted my hands in defense, "Hey, I'm not so thrilled, either." I replied, "but it's my first day and I don't want to fail, so deal with it." He frowned at my tone but didn't comment. "So first, when do you want to meet? I can do any day before eight."

He glared again, but no so evilly this time and even held up his end of the conversation- sort of, "Why not?" He asked with an attitude that just irked me.

" I just moved! For one thing, I need to unpack and for another, my parents don't want me in a strange place we know nothing about after dark." I crossed my arms, daring him to counter me. He didn't, luckily, but stared off to the side with a bored look. I swear he was just trying to make me mad. "Are there any times you _can't _do?" I demanded with a stern voice. I hated this project already.

His cold eyes slid to meet mine, sending chills down my spine. "No." Was all he said before turning back to the wall. Great, he was antisocial.

"Alright. Tomorrow, then." I sighed, not looking forward to it.  
"What is wrong with today?" He asked, not really looking interested.

"I told you, I just moved. Besides, my mom's the type who wants to know how my first day went the second it's over, I suppose you can call her the obsessive sort." He said nothing in response. "So around five after school tomorrow, there's this park just past my house. It's called Millennium Ridge or something like that, can you be there?"

"Yeah, I know where it is." He muttered, still not looking at me but seeming quite interested in the wall.

I sighed, at least he wasn't arguing about the day and time. "Cool. Just be there, okay?" he shrugged me off and I took that as a yes. I escaped by asking to go to the bathroom I sat in the same stall that I had spent lunch in. It was kind of growing on me. That couldn't be a good sign.

* * *

******This is where the rising action takes place,**

******but nothing especially interesting happens.**

******Bummer, right?**

******Well, I hoped you liked it anyway!**

******Please, feel free to be harsh in your critiques **

******if you don't like something, TELL ME!**

******I'll try and make it better!**

******I'll try and get chapter 4 in soon,**

******THANKS FOR READING!  
~RedReadersHood**


	4. Chapter 4

******Author's Note:**

******Yay! Chapter 4!**

******Once again, it took me a while to figure out how to post,**

******so ch. 3 was a little late.**

******I've got the hang of it now! I think.**

******Thank you EVERYBODY! **

******I now have like three readers or something!**

******YAAAAAAYYYY!

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**

I went home after school that day with a weight on my shoulders. Some call it a backpack, I call it a torture device. Seriously, how is it fair to force students to carry like ten pounds of homework around! It can't be healthy!

I tripped over six pairs of shoes on my way in the house. I kicked mine off and let them join the pile of tennis shoes, sandals, and flip flops. I walked into the kitchen to see my mom working away at the stove.

Earlier I'd told Bakura that my mom was the 'obsessive sort' but that was an understatement. Her hair, a red (a color mine lacked but had always wished for) was tied it up in a hair bun. She's a larger woman in almost every way, especially her heart (cheesy I know). Her face is creased with lines from both smiles and stress, all mom's deal with both, and her left hand supported a beautiful ring that she still wore after all these years.

"Knock knock." I said as I walked in the door. She turned to me with a wide smile, flashing all her pearly whites. The apron she wore was one that all of us kids had made for Mother's Day when I was around ten.

"Hey Darlin'! How was your day?" She asked as she flitted around the kitchen adding spices and ingredients to the concoction on the stove.

"Pretty much uneventful." I replied simply, being vague. I tugged at my hair and watched as she hit a button on the stove and took something out of the oven. "What are you making?" I asked as a wave of mouth-watering smells hit me.

"A feast for your survival of the first day of school!" She replied happily stirring something and chopping something else up. "I figured you all would be hungry. You know how your brothers are." She tossed me a wink and I returned it with a giggle.

Let me explain something: there are eight of us- kids, I mean. All of the others are guys, I'm the only daughter of the family. I have an older brother, he's a senior in high school this year, and five younger brothers. Three of them are in middle school, the twins included. There are two in elementary and one who's in kindergarten.

"Dakota isn't home yet?" My mom asked with a slightly worried tone. Dakota's my elder brother, for those of you who were wondering.

"No, he said he was invited to some pool party thing celebrating their victory at the last spelling bee or something like that. I suppose even nerds can throw a party." I replied, digging through the fridge looking for a snack.

She tossed me a reproachful look. She knew perfectly well how I thought about the nerd school, but she hadn't stopped Dad from enrolling me. "How about you? Make any knew friends?" She was always worrying about my social life. It's because most girls like frilly pink stuff and make-up, but I was never into it. I'm not a tomboy type of girl, either, I suppose I'm just weird like that. I've never made friends easily, especially friends of the female sort. I just don't get along with them, and I'm not exactly what most guys call "girl-friend material" since I'm sort of dull, flat and can be nearly emotionless. That may be the result of having seven siblings. So I spend a lot of my time alone with my thoughts. It's never really bothered me, but I know it bugs her to no end.

"Um, kind of." I lied, I certainly didn't consider any of my classmates my "friends" but she didn't need to know that. "I have to meet someone tomorrow after school, so I won't be home until around six or seven or something."  
She looked thrilled that I had plans. _Me_ with _plans _was really unusual. "Oh, Krista, that's wonderful! I told you you'd like it here!" She practically jumped with joy. "That's great." She repeated going back to her cooking. I decided not to tell her that it was a guy who hated my guts and was only meeting me for school reasons. Why rain on her parade?

Before she got the idea to ask me about the details, I snuck out of the kitchen and to my room, with an apple in my hand. I discarded my school uniform-which I hated because it was pink and blue with a tight jacket and pleated skirt- and changed into a pair of worn down jeans and an old blue-gray sweater. I heard it didn't snow much here, even though it was mid January, but the air was still brisk and cold. I grabbed my purse, which was a miniature, messenger-type bag. I'd had it for years, but even though it was worn down and used, it was so soft and durable I still loved it.

"I'm going for a walk!" I called into the kitchen as I left the house. I waited until I heard a muffled "okay!" echo out of the kitchen and made sure I locked the door behind me.

Domino City is a big place. There's several game stores, a few major companies, an arcade, lots of restaurants and fast-food places, but what I liked the most about Domino City was it's parks. There were a lot of open spaces and places you can just take in the scenery. It kind of reminded me of home. I heard they have these places for tournaments of some sort, but I can't remember what kind.

I wandered around one park for a while. It wasn't Millennium Ridge, but it was still nice. I found a decorative bench to rest on and pulled out my sketch pad. I like to think of drawing as my talent, I'm not bad, but there's plenty of improvement room. I like drawing outside, so that's what I mainly do. It's pleasant and calm and- "Ugg!"

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud accompanied by a grunt. I turned to see a skinny, tall boy with puffy blond hair. I raised my eyebrows as he fell to the ground by the bench. "Uh...Joey?" I asked, hoping I'd said the right name.

The blond looked up at me and surprise washed over his face, "You-you're that new girl! Kristy!" he shouted from the ground (which made him look really ridiculous, I might add.)

I sighed, "Krista." I corrected half-heartedly, "and yes, I am that new girl. What on Earth are you doing on the ground?" Then I noticed his face. On his left cheek was a weld the size of a golf ball. "Oh!" I shouted, hopping to my feet. "Are you alright?"

He suddenly became self-conscious of his bruising face and turned away from me, so I couldn't see it anymore. He also was silent, which I figured must be a rare occasion. "Let me see that." I demanded. I grabbed his elbow and helped him to his feet then sat him on the bench.

It was swollen and raw with bruises surrounding it. "What happened?" I asked, though I knew the answer.

"I got in a fight. What's it ta ya?" He growled, not looking me in the eyes. A sure sign of lying.

"Don't you make stuff up." I hissed, making him jump a little. "I can see what happened and I've dealt with enough _boys _to know a lie when I see one." I pulled out a small handkerchief, which I normally use for when my brothers inevitably fight each other or hurt themselves, and dabbed his face. He winced with each dab.

"Stop tha'!" He screamed angrily, "Tha' hurts! Damn it!" I ignored his complaints and kept dabbing.

"How long as your father been abusing you?" I asked seriously, but he was taken by shock- as if he though I'd really bought the whole 'fighting' story.

He grabbed my wrist, the one I'd been using to tend to his face, and stared at me, "How- How'd you know? I haven't told nobody! 'cept Tristan. And he ain't told nobody either, not even Yugi!"

I twisted my wrist out of his steely grasp. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me, the way he held my arm hard but not tight told me that, but I still didn't like it. "Your face, the attacker was clearly a tall, heavy-set man. And not a street fighter, almost trained by the looks of it. There aren't many people like that around, and even fewer that are taller than you." I tried to explain without making it too complicated, "plus I've seen enough abuse cases."

I stopped there and continued to dab his cheek. This time he didn't oppose. "Did he hit you anywhere else?" He didn't respond so I pushed on his stomach lightly, making him flinch hard. "Thought so. Facial wounds are usually followed by a good kneeing in the gut. Was your father in the military?"

Joey gasped for breath and then glared at me, "Damn, you're smart." He muttered.

"Is that a yes?" I asked insistingly.

"Not the military, the marines." Joey responded. "When he left 'em he found my Ma had taken my lil' sis and left 'em for some new guy. He went strait to the booze and ain't stopped goin' since."

I nodded, not pressing for details. "You need to ice them." I instructed, "If you want I can bring you ice from my house...do you have a place to stay when your dad gets like this?"

He shrugged, "I usually crash at Tristan's pad." He winced as he lightly touched his face. I rolled my eyes, why do guys insist on touching their wounds even if it hurts them? I'll never understand.

"Good. I'll get ice." I stood to leave, but he grabbed my wrist- again. I clenched my jaw thinking I might just punch him.

"Nah, don't bother, I'll get me some later." He motioned to the bench for me to sit. I didn't. "How'd ya know so much from jus' my injuries?" He demanded, I could see I wasn't going to be able to take the easy route out.

"My mom, she's my foster mother really. She adopts kids who have abusive parents, like yours." I explained, he made a face that I recognized, "I'm not saying to go get yourself adopted!" I shouted a little louder than intended. Light blush rushed to my face, "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's cool." He replied, "Go on, finish." I didn't really like the order, but I ignored it, he was injured after all.

I don't remember my real dad, but after my mom died he went abusive. Not even an alcoholic like yours, either. He killed my big sister. She was trying to protect me from his fists." I bit my lip. His face seemed pitiful and I hated that. "I have a lot of brothers, all with similar stories, and since I was the first one she adopted I've seen all of them at their worst." I laughed, "Now their all just pains in my butt." His face didn't loosen up. "You sure you don't want any ice?" I asked, standing up.

He shook his head, "Nah, I heal quick." He tapped his thumb on his knee, "Will ya promise not ta tell nobody? I hate them worryin' bout somethin' like this."

I frowned, "Yeah, I won't tell anyone, but you know, if they worry that means their good friends."

A grin spread across his face, "I know, I'm freakin' lucky ta have 'em!" He jumped up, surprising me. A quick flash of pain crossed his face, but was quickly gone. "Well, thanks. For ev'rythin'" He said, then turned to run off. "See ya at school tomorrow!" He shouted over his shoulder.

With a sigh I turned to head home. School tomorrow. Project tomorrow. Blah.

Well, at least I made one friend. Sort of.

* * *

******This chapter was a bit of a tangent,**

******it went off randomly...**

******but that was to introduce Krista a little bit more,**

******see now you know about her past, her family and her personality!**

******I would like to make one thing clear though, **

******the whole abusive thing and how Krista figured it out-**

******I MADE THAT UP! none of it is real, so don't go telling**

******your friends that some guy is being abused 'cuz he has a black eye!  
**

******I promise I'll get back on track in ch. 5,**

******whenever that will be... **

******Thank you all!**

******~RedReadersHood**


	5. Chapter 5

******Author's Note:******

******Chapter 5! Finally!**

******This one is a little bit longer and took more time, **

******and I haven't been home so I couldn't upload it.**

******I think it's sort of a boring chapter, though.**

******I want to correct myself, I have like 80 readers or somethings**

******...but only about 10 of them actually read all 4 chapters so**

******I don't really know if that counts... **

******enjoy!**

** Day two at nerd school. Joy. **

** Mom made Dakota and I walk to school together, something about strange people around these parts. Well, anyway, Dakota and I were walking together. **

** Dakota is popular. There is no two ways around it, he always has been and always will be. Part of it is his looks. He is handsome, even by my standards. His sun kissed-brown hair falls to his chin in slightly curled locks, but stops just before his eyes. His nose is long and slender and his eyes are olive green. But he's also a player. He usually has one or two girls on his arm and almost never has the same girl twice.**

** So, on our way to school, our entire conversation consisted of what happened at the party he went to last night. He told me about his class, how they were all pretty awesome and totally accepted him, and about the two confessions he'd already received and the fight he got into because some guy blamed Dakota for taking his girl. **

** I let my eyes and mind wander as I examined the way to school. Domino City is not a very pretty place; there is no scenery. Unless you count skyscrapers and major companies. From where I was walking I could already see plenty of big corporations that even I, someone who doesn't keep up with economy, news, or the stock market, recognized: Kaiba Corp, Black Clown Game Shop, Industrial Illusions, Toyota Headquarters. Lots of big names.**

** "Krista!" Dakota snapped his fingers in front of my face to get my attention. I turned to see his face clouded with annoyance. "Why do you ****_always _****zone out like that?" He demanded rudely, "It's like whenever people talk to you you mind goes off to someplace else. This is why you never have any friends. If you just got involved and talked more-" I zoned him out again.**

** I was surprised at how warm it was in Domino City during the winter. Even though I'd worn a heavy jacket over my school uniform, I really didn't need it. Back home (I still didn't consider Domino City my "home") by October we always had our winter clothes on, but I'd hardly even call the weather here winter. **

** "Krista! Hey Krista, wait up!" this time it was another voice that pulled me back to where I was. Téa, Yugi, and Yami were all jogging to catch up with us. I was surprised to see them, and to hear them calling my name, but Dakota was astonished. He'd never known me to have many friends ever. I'd only ever had one boyfriend, and he'd dumped me after three days because I was too "plain and boring" for him. So the fact that I had ****_three _****people calling my name came as a shock.**

** "Uh, hi guys." I greeted them uneasily.  
"Hey, Krista!" Yugi replied cheerfully, matching his pace to mine, "Nice to see you again." I nodded in response, I'd never been good with the small talk. "You remember us?" I nodded again, how could I forget? They left quite an impression. "Great, well we just wanted to apologize for Bakura's behavior yesterday." **

** "Yeah, he was a real jerk!" Téa added angrily. "He was totally rude to you and-URG! It just makes me so mad!" I blinked at her, she was definitely the emotional type. **

** "It's not a problem." I insisted, "I wasn't exactly a perfect little angel either."**

** Dakota snorted, "****_You_**** an ****_angel_****? Seriously?" He chuckled under his breath as if sharing an inside joke with himself. I knew he was just being rude because I'd taken the center of attention from him, but it still made me mad.**

** Téa sighed, "I wish I could say he's nicer after you know him better, but that would be a lie. He's pretty much that way all the time." I didn't like how she talked about him that way behind his back, or how neither Yugi nor Yami seemed to disagree, but I also didn't like him too much so I didn't say anything. **

** Téa glanced at Dakota "So...is this your boyfriend?" she asked uneasily. That made Dakota laugh out lout and made me want to punch her lights out, she literally couldn't have picked a worse thing to say.**

** "Her ****_boyfriend?_**** Krista's? Are we talking 'bout the same girl here?" Dakota managed through his laughter. Yugi, Yami, and Téa clearly had no idea how to handle this reaction, I didn't really either.**

** "He's my brother." I tried to explain to their confused expressions, "He's a senior this year." They seemed to understand ****_who _****he was, but not him or his reaction. I wondered how siblings in Domino City acted. **

** "I didn't know you had siblings." Yugi said. It was sort of a dumb thing to say, even if it was just to make conversation. After all, how would he know I had sibling when ****_I _****had never mentioned them? It just seemed logical that he wouldn't know. **

** "Yeah, I have brothers." I replied with a smile. "Seven of them." **

** Their reactions were priceless, "****_Seven?" _****Téa gasped. "God, that's a lot." I nodded seriously. It was a lot of kids, and a lot of trouble.**

** We arrived at school just to find Joey, Tristan and Duke standing right out side the gate. They were (surprise) fighting. I'm not sure over what, but I could tell it was something stupid. Apparently Joey and Tristan had been fighting when Duke had arrived and when he tried to intervene they both got mad at him. He, of course, responded by joining the fight. It was quite a sight to see and many of the students had crowded around to watch.**

** Dakota, not wanting to be associated with people like us, had slipped off to join some of his senior friends. Joey was the first to notice as we approached. "Hey, guys." He said, relaxing his half of the fight, causing the other two to give in as well. **

** "Hey Joey." Yugi gave him a short wave. "You remember Krista? From yesterday." He explained unnecessarily, Joey remembered me just fine. **

** "Yeah, I remember Krista." He tossed me a look, as though wondering if either of us would bring up what happened at the park. I knew I wouldn't, I didn't have any need to, and I didn't really care if he did. It was his business after all. **

** "Did you know she has ****_seven _****siblings? ****_Seven!_****" Téa practically screamed, making even me jump. She had a freaky voice box, I didn't know a human voice could be that loud.**

** Joey raised his eyebrows at me, "****_Seven?_****" he asked skeptically, "are they all adopted?" He slipped. Téa and Yugi turned to him in shock, then glanced back at me. **

** "Are you adopted?" Téa asked me uneasily, as if I wouldn't want to talk about it or something like that.**

** "Yeah, I am. And so are all my brothers." I replied simply, almost as if I was daring them to say something about it. Nobody did, thankfully.**

** Yami did speak, however. Not to me though. "Joey...how did ****_you_**** know that Krista was ****adopted?" He asked in that deep voice of his. He really didn't sound like your average high schooler, his voice rang through the air with such a tone I would've believed him if he said he was really 30 years old. **

** "I uh-" Joey was at a loss for words, which caught all of them by surprise. I had the feeling that Joey wasn't usually the sort to be short on words. **

** I decided to save his skin. Again. "I ran into him at the park yesterday with a couple of my younger brothers and happened to tell him that I was adopted." I glanced his way, his brown eyes were full of relief and gratitude. "I didn't tell him that the others were also adopted though." **

** "Yeah. That's it, we ran into each other at the park!" He insisted a bit obviously. I wanted to roll my eyes, but didn't in case someone caught on. **

** I decided Yami was the smart one, he was the only one who didn't buy the story completely. "Which park?" He asked Joey. It sounded an innocent enough question, but he just seemed to have an alternative meaning. **

** "Domino City Central Park." Joey responded almost instantly. I couldn't tell you if that was the park we'd been in or not, but I wasn't about to say anything.**

** Yami raised his eyebrows, "what were you doing there Joey?" He wondered aloud, "you don't live very near that park." I realized that this guy would not be an easy one to fool. I was curious as to how Joey had hid his secret about his father's abusiveness.**

** "I was on my way to Tristan's house." Joey explained. I realized that it was probably the truth. He had said that when his father got like that he went to the safety of Tristan's home. **

** "Oh, Joey!" Téa shouted suddenly, "what happened to your face?" They all turned to see Joey's swollen eye and all started asking questions and trying to baby him with "does it hurt?" and "do you need anything?" **

** I actually noticed it looked a lot better than it had last night, it was now more the size of a ping-pong ball than a golf ball. Joey brushed them all off with, "Tristan hit me in the eye in his sleep last night." a totally different story than the made up one he gave me ****_and _****the truth. **

** Yugi and Téa accepted this story with reluctance, but Yami clearly didn't. I wondered if he really knew about everything- even Joey's father. Our conversation was interrupted when Bakura and Ryou showed up together. **

** Bakura scanned the group with his cold eyes, finally resting on Joey's bruise. He didn't comment on anyone or anything, just stood there as Ryou greeted everyone. "Kristy, right?" He asked me with a polite smile. **

** "Krista." I corrected, yet ****_again_****. I gave up on anyone ever saying my name right, it was my curse.**

** "Oh! I'm sorry!" Ryou over apologized. **

** I shrugged it away, "No problem, happens all the time."**

** Ryou shook his head apologetically, "I also wanted to apologize for Bakura's behavior yesterday." This took me by surprise. I suppose I assumed that since they looked so much alike (honestly, they looked ****_identical_****) that he would side with Bakura.**

** I searched for the right words, but before I could say anything Ryou elbowed Bakura and muttered, "apologize." Bakura looked like he would rather swallow needles, but sucked it up. He turned to me with a serious expression and grumbled what might have been an apology- or an insult, I couldn't really tell.**

** "Um, you're forgiven?" I tried, he glared at me as though I was at fault for all of this. "and, I guess I'm sorry...I was a jerk too." **

** I heard him grumble something again that sounded an awful lot like "yes you were." Ryou elbowed him, so I pretended not to hear. **

** We all stood in a bit of an awkward silence for several moments. Joey was just about to say something when Marik and Malik arrived. Marik and Malik have less of a resemblance than Yugi and ****Yami or Bakura and Ryou. Marik just ****_looks_**** evil. His pale hair sticks up in all directions and his face ****seems to be in a permanent glare, even though he has a malevolent grin plastered across his face. **

** "Hi Malik." every one greeted. They all seemed careful and wary not to speak to Marik, so I decided to find out why. Curiosity killed the cat, but the cat probably found what he was looking for. Besides, the cat has nine lives.**

** "Hey, Malik. Hi, Marik." I said to both of them. Everyone fell silent and stared. I tried to ignore them and keep a smile plastered on my face. Neither one said anything, Malik looked scared. "You guys remember me? I'm Krista. The new girl." **

** His smile grew more sinister as Marik realized what was going on, "Hello, Krista." He hissed at me in a gruesome voice, he extended his hand in my direction. I recalled Malik preventing me from shaking his hand yesterday, and it seemed like he might again today. I reached forward before anyone could react and shook Marik's hand. **

** "Hello." I said pleasantly, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. Except that everyone's face was struck with terror. I glanced around to see the exact same expression on everybody, except Bakura. That did it, I was sure something bad was going to happen if ****_Bakura _****seemed happy about me shaking Marik's hand. **

** But nothing did happen. We shook hands then let go. Nothing unusual, scary, dangerous, or even remotely interesting. I was throughly confused, and it looked like I wasn't the only one. Everyone had an expression that seemed to say "why is she still standing here,****_ alive_****?" on their faces. It sort of freaked me out.**

** "Do you fools even realize you are blocking the door?" a cold voice rang through the air. We all turned to see a tall brunet with icy blue eyes staring us down. **

** "Kaiba!" Joey shouted, pointing at the brunet, "What are you doing here?"**

** "I go to school here, you mutt." Kaiba unnecessarily reminded Joey. After all, he was wearing the navy blue uniform. That, and I seriously doubt Joey was unaware of Kaiba's attendance at the school. **

** Joey glared at him, "I know ****_that_**** you idiot, I just thought that you were working today!" Joey growled angrily. **

** The brunet remained expressionless, "What are you, my personal stalker?" He asked sarcastically. I snickered a little, causing everyone's eyes to fall on me. Oops. "I'd ask who this is but I'd probably receive some sort of friendship rant, so I won't.  
"I'm Krista the new girl. You're Seto, right?" I introduced myself despite his comment. I extended my hand but, as was expected, he ignored it completely. **

** Instead his cold eyes glared down at me, sending scared chills down my spine, "don't speak to me so familiarly." Was his only response as he pushed his way through us and into the school. **

** "Hey, she didn't do nothin' wrong! Come back and apologize you jerk!" Joey shook his fist in Seto's direction. Of course the brunet didn't turn around and apologize, which just made Joey look like a fool. **

** Téa turned to me, "Ignore him, he's always like that." she shook her head and sighed, "some people." **

** I shrugged, "Shall we follow suit and go to class?" I suggested. A few of them nodded their heads or muttered a muffled consent, so we went inside. I had a feeling that it was going to be a ****_long _****day.**

******Nothing particularly interesting happened, huh?**

******Did anyone notice I mentioned Kaiba, Pegasus, and Duke's companies?**

******I'm so cool, right?**

******Well, in my personal opinion the next chapter will be way more interesting,**

******maybe. **

******I don't really know...**

******personal opinion here, ignore me.**

******Well, thanks for reading!  
~RedReadersHood**


	6. Chapter 6

******Sorry that this took so freaking long to upload,**

******I'll try and get the next chapter in quicker!**

******And I'd like to thank everyone who has commented or reviewed**

**this story- it's you guys that keep me motivated to write!**

******Well, don't let me keep you distracted,**

******Enjoy!

* * *

**

School was long. Since I was the new student most the teachers took pity on me, but since I'd clearly not joined the jocks, preps, or the nerds most the students had pretty much ignored me. Except for Yugi and the others. They were a little hard to avoid, and since I was Bakura's partner in the project they really tried to make friends with me.

It's not that I dislike it, it's just that I've never been good with people in general. So when I have ten (or eight, really, since Bakura and Marik couldn't care less about me) people trying their hardest to make friends, I sort of panic.

So when school ended, I booked it out of there before anyone could offer to walk home with me. I enjoyed my "me time" and that usually is limited to when I'm out walking.

I took the long way back to my house. I didn't have to meet up with Bakura until five, and school ended at three-thirty, so I had time to kill. I followed a dirt path that was lined with trees and ended at a large stone bridge with a two horizontal wood boards on each side, which didn't seem safe enough to me.

On the bridge was an odd sight. A young boy- I've never been good at guessing ages so I've no idea how old he was, I'd say about ten- was running in circles on the bridge holding a card of some sort and making sound effects. His hair was long and black and he wasn't in a uniform, so I assumed he was an elementary student.

Suddenly the wind blew the card right out of his hand, and off the edge of the bridge. Without thinking twice the boy jumped over the side of the bridge after the card. I gasped and ran to where he jumped and looked over the edge. He had somehow caught the card, but was now hanging twenty feet above rapid, rushing water. He was holding onto the stone edge of the bridge for dear life.

"Hey kid, hang on!" I shouted to him, drawing his attention to me.

"Yeah, great advise. I was thinking of _not _doing that." He snapped in a raspy voice.

I rolled my eyes but decided not to argue with someone hanging off of a bridge. Instead, I laid on my stomach and slid myself under the side of the bridge and hooked my knees onto the wooden board. I winced as I felt several splinters making their way into my flesh. "Grab my hand." I ordered him as I lowered my arm towards him.

He waited until my arm was no more than four inches away from him before he grabbed it. We hooked our hands around each others wrists and held fast. "Don't let go." he gasped, fear ringing in his voice.

It was my turn to be sarcastic, "I am so totally going to let go of you after I went to the effort of grabbing you. I'm even getting super painful splinters in my legs for you."

He tried to laugh, but that's a little hard when your hanging on by your fingertips. The card he'd jumped off for was in his other hand, so he didn't have a very good grip. I figured that if he jumped off a bridge for it, he wasn't about to let the card go, so instead I lowered my other arm and grabbed his.

As soon as I had a good hold on him I started to pull, but it was no good, he was too heavy for me. "Start shouting." I said to him over the roar of the death-threatening water below us. "If there's anyone near here, they'll hear and maybe even help."

We both started yelling "help!" at the top of our lungs, but no dice. This was a pretty out-of-the-way place, so there wasn't anyone around.

"My big brother will come." he reassured me. I wasn't really reassured.

"How do you know!" I demanded, "Does he have a tracking device on you or something?" We were both becoming a little stressed, our arms hurt and the water below roared like a lion preparing to pounce.

The boy shook his head, "This is where we always meet. He'll come for me." Then he added uneasily, "eventually..."

I groaned. Great, we _might _be able to count on this kid's brother, _eventually_. "Come on, try and climb! I'll pull, you...do something!" Even with both of our strengths it wasn't really working. The kid was trying to use his legs to climb up the stone while I supported and pulled him up, but the bridge was about two and a half feet thick, and we weren't making much progress.

"Mokuba?" I recognized that chilly voice from this morning, it was Seto.

I couldn't look, but I knew, "Seto- Kaiba help us! Please! This kid is going to fall! Please, please, please!" I didn't need to ask twice, apparently, because he was already kneeling beside me and grabbing the boys arms. He, of course, was much stronger than me and it didn't take him long to pull the kid up onto the bridge.

"Thank-" I began, but then I noticed Kaiba was hugging the boy. I raised my eyebrows at the kid, "the brother you mentioned?" I guessed. He grinned and nodded. So Kaiba had a soft spot for his lil' bro. Good to know.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?" Kaiba demanded of the kid.

"I...fell." He lied. I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing. Kaiba didn't seem to be buying it.

He grabbed the boy's shoulders, "You seriously think I believe you _fell_? Do you take me for an idiot?" the boy said nothing, but adverted his eyes. I then decided to intervene.

"He jumped after this." I leaned forward and grabbed the card out of the boy's hand, it was a Duel Monsters card. I never played, but everyone knew about Duel Monsters, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing about some tournament or another. This card was called _Blue Eyes White Dragon_ and had a holographic picture of a ferocious-looking dragon on it.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and grabbed the card, then turned to face the boy, "Why did you have to jump after it." His voice scared me, and I wasn't even the one he was talking to.

"The wind blew it out of his hand, it wasn't his fault." I tried to explain.

Kaiba turned on me with anger in those cold blue eyes of him. "I wasn't asking _you_." he hissed dangerously, "Why are you even here?"

I stood up then and crossed my arms, "Well, sorry for trying to save your brother!" I shouted back, "next time, I'll just watch him fall, how's that!" Shock covered his face at my tone, or maybe my words. "And something must be wrong with you!" I continued, "normally someone would scold their little brother after jumping off of a bridge after a _children's card game_, but you yelled at him for dropping the card in the first place!" I glared strongly.

Kaiba seemed at a loss for words for a few moments, but _only_ a few moments, then he was back to himself. He seemed to be debating weather or not to thank me or throw me off the bridge. I wasn't liking my chances much. "My brother and I express our gratitude." He said in a very businessman-like voice. "I hate owing people, so if you need something, contact KaibaCorporations." My jaw fell open.

"NO WAY, you work at KaibaCorp?" I gasped. I had just figured "Kaiba" was a common name around here, not that he was the _actual_ Kaiba from KaibaCorp!

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "no, you imbecile, I _own_ KaibaCorp. Now, if there is nothing else, let's go Mokuba." He started to stomp away in a fury, but Mokuba (that was the little kid's name) was clearly against leaving.

"Come on, Bro, she saved my life! We should thank her some how! Like lunch, we could invite her to lunch! Or something." He was tugging on Kaiba's arm to no avail. Kaiba neither responded nor gave it. I wanted to laugh, but they were still close enough to hear me and I had a feeling that my laughter wouldn't go over well. Mokuba then turned around to look at me (while still being pulled along by Kaiba) "Thank you! I'm sorry I can't repay you better!" he shouted at me.

"No problem!" I yelled back, "be careful, okay?" He nodded, apparently satisfied and turned to leave with Kaiba. What an odd pair, those two.

It _had _been a long day, and it wasn't even five yet. I decided to go buy myself a smoothie, I deserved one, after all.

I made my was to a fairly large, industrialized-looking burger place called Burger World. It was fairly new, no more than a year in the making I think, so I wasn't so sure about going. As I entered a familiar voice said, "Welcome to Burger- Krista!" I looked up to see Téa in full uniform, a shocked look on her face.

"Uh, hey Téa." I greeted uncertainly, "I didn't know you had a job." another dumb comment, of _course _I didn't know, she never told me. And why would she? We met _yesterday._

"Oh, Krista, what a surprise! What can I get you?" She asked cheerfully. Too cheerfully, in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't be cheerful if I had to work at a burger restaurant. She led me to a booth and went to fetch my smoothie.

I sighed. I was hoping for an annoyance-free snack. It wasn't that Téa was annoying, she was just a distraction from my thoughts. I'm the type of girl who likes to let my mind wander a million miles away, and most people find _that _annoying. Maybe that's why I have people problems? Whatever. I thought about earlier.

Mokuba acted like I was his savior, but really Kaiba had done all the work. I had been terrified. The water rushing just below me, the sound of the rapids roaring in my ears. If Kaiba hadn't shown up, who knows if I would have still saved his brother? Maybe I would have just let him fall.

I glanced up to find Téa standing over me with a worried expression. Great, I'd been caught in my drifting. "Krista, are you okay? I've been talking to you for like three minutes. People were starting to give us weird looks."

I tossed her a guilty smile, "Oops, guess I just zoned out. Sorry about that." I picked up the smoothie she'd just brought and took a long gulp. Vanilla. I'd ordered strawberry. "Thanks for the smoothie, Téa, it's great!"

She returned my grin, "No problem." She laughed, "hey, if you stick around my shift ends at five." She turned to leave, practically skipping away. I sighed, maybe I would stick around. Dakota was right, I needed to come out of my own little world and make friends. Téa sure seemed nice enough, maybe a little ditsy, but nice.

"Krista!" I looked up to see Yugi, Yami, Joey, Tristan, Duke, _and _some red-headed girl I hadn't meet. Of course! I should have known that if Téa worked here then her friends probably came to visit her. Often.

I smiled pleasantly, "Hey guys. Did you come to see Téa? She just left."

They all made themselves at home at my table. I had to scoot over to let Joey, the girl, and Tristan to sit next to me. "What brings you here?" Yugi asked, he was sitting between Yami and Duke, right across the red-head.

"Food." I replied simply, then elaborated, "dessert, really. I have a bit of a sweet tooth." They all laughed nicely. It became clear that no one was going to think to introduce the girl, so I took initiative. "Hi, I'm Krista, who are you?" I said, leaning forward to look around Joey to look at her. She turned to me and grinned.

"I'm Serenity, Joey's little sister." She replied cheerfully. That explained a lot.

"That's right, she's my sis, do ya see da resemblance? I got the looks, I know, but she's cute 'erself, ain't she?" I raised my eyes as Tristan and Duke burst into rounds of laughter that included howling comments of "_you good-_lookin_'_?" and "damn strait she's a cutie!" I decided not to comment.

I did glance between the two of them, though. "No, I don't see a resemblance." I noticed. He was tall and blond, with brown eyes. Meanwhile, Serenity was a short, hazel green-eyed red-head. To be honest I couldn't find a single similarity between the two.

"Guess she got Ma's looks..." Joey muttered, looking at his sister. She smiled at him, not saying anything. If Téa was ditsy, this girl was totally out of it. Not that I could talk. At all.

The chatter continued, mostly about duel monsters- apparently, almost all of them played the game- but also about regular teen stuff: homework, crushes (mainly Tristan and Duke crushing on Serenity...though she didn't look more then fourteen or so and both of them had to be at least seventeen...) and saving the world. I blinked and zoned back into the conversation.

"Man, we thought Dartz was a loony, but I think Zigfried takes the cake on this one." Joey was going on. "Though...he was less dangerous than all the others..."

Tristan shrugged, "That doesn't make him any less loony. I mean, he had _pink _hair for cryin' out loud!" I tried to grasp this conversation. They'd mentioned saving the world, but I had been too lost in my thoughts to catch all of it. Curse my zoning out!

"I thought it was more of a purple color." Téa (who had come to give them their orders) interjected. "Like lavender."

"Nah, it was pink. Definitely pink." Joey contradicted her, shaking his puffy blond head.

"Purple!"

"Pink!"

"Purple!"

"Pink!"

Their argument seemed to go on for ages, then they simultaneously turned to Yugi and Yami and shouted, "What do you think?" Both boys looked surprised and tried to push the final decision off of themselves. It was kind of amusing to watch all of this going about.

"Krista?" We all turned to see Dakota, surrounded by tons of his friends (mainly girls, of course) standing right by our table. They seemed to be leaving, but he had spotted me. His face was hilarious, to say the least. "What are you doing here? With-" he glanced around the table. He clearly recognized Yugi, Yami and Téa, and that seemed to baffle him even more. I had _repeat _friends? No way.

"I am obviously drinking my smoothie." I replied, maybe I was smirking just a little- the arrogant, haughty type of smirk- but I felt that he deserved it. The entire table was buzzing with questions, I heard Yugi trying to explain to Joey that this was one of my seven brothers.

He gaped and gasped, but wasn't grasping the situation. "W-well..." He seemed impressed enough, but then he stood tall and crossed his arms, "please tell me that you told Mom you would be out late." He seemed confidant that he had caught me in making a mistake. Mom would be furious if I didn't tell her I wouldn't be coming strait home.

"Of course, I told her yesterday, 'cuz I had to meet Ba-" I gasped and glanced at the clock, four-fifty-six. "CRAP!" I jumped up and slid over the table, past everyone- being careful not to slide over any food or drinks. All their faces froze with shock. "Sorry, I have to go!" I tossed Téa a ten dollar bill and ran out the door.

I'D LOST TRACK OF TIME! Bakura was so going to kill me.

* * *

******How was that for interesting?**

******I think my writing style in this chapter may be confusing**

******or hard to understand for some people,**

******so if you have any questions or comments,**

******feel free to contact me and I'll try to get back to you ASAP!**

******Thank you all so much for reading, **

******~RedReadersHood**


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